POE CAT6 Tests OK Yet No Camera Connectivity

c hris527

Known around here
Joined
Oct 12, 2015
Messages
1,782
Reaction score
2,066
Location
NY
That's weird. Like I said my install was going strong for a solid 12 months. My Father has an identical system that I installed back in December of 2020. He had his house pre-wired while it was being built, that's the only difference. However the installers didn't use CAT6. They used CAT5 probably, from what I remember. Smaller diameter wire and no solid core copper. He hasn't had one failure while whole time. And I crimped all of his connections by hand WITHOUT having any sort of continuity tester at the time, and got everything working the very first try. Not bad for a first timer. The success of his system is what led me to procure the same exact model everything in 2021.
Yea, Not sayin thats your issue but after reading this I thought I would throw it out there. And again, they were great and stable for months.
 

wittaj

IPCT Contributor
Joined
Apr 28, 2019
Messages
24,428
Reaction score
47,550
Location
USA
I still think it is the POE of the NVR degrades over time and/or the cameras start requiring a little more juice - they run at such tight tolerances that any deviation and this happens.
 

c hris527

Known around here
Joined
Oct 12, 2015
Messages
1,782
Reaction score
2,066
Location
NY
I still think it is the POE of the NVR degrades over time and/or the cameras start requiring a little more juice - they run at such tight tolerances that any deviation and this happens.
Well, You could make that case by the sounds of things he is saying.
 

wittaj

IPCT Contributor
Joined
Apr 28, 2019
Messages
24,428
Reaction score
47,550
Location
USA
^Yep, I suggested it on post 14 lol
 

riluxg

Getting the hang of it
Joined
Aug 1, 2015
Messages
63
Reaction score
26
Location
UK
I have had this problem a few times and now how frustrating it can be.
First I check if the camera is getting power by covering the camera and seeing if IR lights come on.
If they come on I test the cable by plugging nvr end into the router and use laptop at camera end
to see if I can connect to the network.
If the laptop connects to the network its the camera (remember some cameras are more sensitive to power and network than others, also camera and nvr can degrade over time) so the camera might work on a shorter cable.
I also test with Poe injector and passive Poe splitter adapter
If all fails and I now there is power at the camera end I fit a wireless camera and connect the camera
to wifi network not ideal but it works
 

BlaineBug

Young grasshopper
Joined
Jun 27, 2022
Messages
56
Reaction score
18
Location
United States
^Yep, I suggested it on post 14 lol
I remembered, which is why I ordered the POE injector, to give it a test considering that this particular camera with the issue IS the longest run of any of the six I have installed. I'll be testing wit the POE injector later today, I just have to crawl back up on the roof again. Unfortunately it is the most difficult to get to as I have to walk on the roof, whereas any of the other five cameras I can access simply by leaning a ladder up on the siding!
 

wittaj

IPCT Contributor
Joined
Apr 28, 2019
Messages
24,428
Reaction score
47,550
Location
USA
It is always the most difficult one to access that causes the trouble LOL
 

BlaineBug

Young grasshopper
Joined
Jun 27, 2022
Messages
56
Reaction score
18
Location
United States
Alright I am on my roof now.

I have the Reolink POE NVR connected to the LAN port on my POE injector, and the POE port on the POE injector connected to the CAT6 cable that runs to this camera in particular. I haven't connected the camera yet, only my POE testing meter. I'm seeing 70 VOLTS and 0.0 watts on this CAT6 cable. Is it somehow COMBINING the voltage coming from the NVR and the POE injector??? I have not yet connected my camera out of fear of toasting it!!
 

riluxg

Getting the hang of it
Joined
Aug 1, 2015
Messages
63
Reaction score
26
Location
UK
LAN port on poe injector should go to router and poe port injector to camera
then see if you can log on to camera using web bowser
 

BlaineBug

Young grasshopper
Joined
Jun 27, 2022
Messages
56
Reaction score
18
Location
United States
LAN port on poe injector should go to router and poe port injector to camera
then see if you can log on to camera using web bowser
Can I not use the POE injector in conjunction with the NVR? My Router is located on the other end of the house, not in the basement.

For another test I am NOT using the POE injector - I took my camera and connected it directly to the NVR on the roof as it was wired for the last 12 months, and have my POE testing meter in-between. I am once again having a perfect camera feed, and the POE tester shows 48 volts at 3.5-4.0 watts. WTF. I wonder how long this will last. I am skeptical about re-mounting the camera once again, but have thunderstorms coming tonight so am wary to just leave the camera lying on the roof deck,
 

riluxg

Getting the hang of it
Joined
Aug 1, 2015
Messages
63
Reaction score
26
Location
UK
Can I not use the POE injector in conjunction with the NVR? My Router is located on the other end of the house, not in the basement.

For another test I am NOT using the POE injector - I took my camera and connected it directly to the NVR on the roof as it was wired for the last 12 months, and have my POE testing meter in-between. I am once again having a perfect camera feed, and the POE tester shows 48 volts at 3.5-4.0 watts. WTF. I wonder how long this will last. I am skeptical about re-mounting the camera once again, but have thunderstorms coming tonight so am wary to just leave the camera lying on the roof deck,
have not used reolink nvr can you turn power off to port camera is on
or you could plug network cable from nvr into poe injector lan port and see if you can see camera on network
 

BlaineBug

Young grasshopper
Joined
Jun 27, 2022
Messages
56
Reaction score
18
Location
United States
have not used reolink nvr can you turn power off to port camera is on
or you could plug network cable from nvr into poe injector lan port and see if you can see camera on network
There appears to be no ability within the Reolink NVR interface to specify if a specific port should have POE or not.

If I power the camera directly with the POE injector (NOT connected to the NVR) and I have my meter in-line between the POE injector and the camera, I see approximately 52 volts and 10 watts. Quite a bit higher than when connected to the NVR alone. However when I connect the POE injector to the NVR with NO load I see 70 volts! I'm afraid to connect the camera because 70 volts is way outside of 48 volts, I feel as though it would cook it for good!
 

riluxg

Getting the hang of it
Joined
Aug 1, 2015
Messages
63
Reaction score
26
Location
UK
There appears to be no ability within the Reolink NVR interface to specify if a specific port should have POE or not.

If I power the camera directly with the POE injector (NOT connected to the NVR) and I have my meter in-line between the POE injector and the camera, I see approximately 52 volts and 10 watts. Quite a bit higher than when connected to the NVR alone. However when I connect the POE injector to the NVR with NO load I see 70 volts! I'm afraid to connect the camera because 70 volts is way outside of 48 volts, I feel as though it would cook it for good!
yes you have to bypass the nvr and the only way i can think is to take network cable from the nvr and plug it into the poe injector lan port this will connect camera to your network and then check your networki and see if you can see the camera
 

BlaineBug

Young grasshopper
Joined
Jun 27, 2022
Messages
56
Reaction score
18
Location
United States
yes you have to bypass the nvr and the only way i can think is to take network cable from the nvr and plug it into the poe injector lan port this will connect camera to your network and then check your networki and see if you can see the camera
How will the camera's feed be viewed on the NVR then? That will no longer be possible if I can only access the camera via web browser versus the NVR.
 

wittaj

IPCT Contributor
Joined
Apr 28, 2019
Messages
24,428
Reaction score
47,550
Location
USA
If your NVR won't let you use the injector on one port, then you will need to put it on a switch and plug the nvr into the switch and then manually add the camera.

But hopefully you can just plug the injector into the poe port.
 

BlaineBug

Young grasshopper
Joined
Jun 27, 2022
Messages
56
Reaction score
18
Location
United States
If your NVR won't let you use the injector on one port, then you will need to put it on a switch and plug the nvr into the switch and then manually add the camera.

But hopefully you can just plug the injector into the poe port.
That's what I am trying to do, but fear connecting the camera for the following reason:

With NO LOAD on the NVR or POE injector, my meter is displaying 70 volts, 0.0 watts at the entire end of the length of CAT6 on the exterior of my home. I feel as if I connected my camera to 70 volts it would kill it.

However, if I connect my meter directly to the POE injector in my basement, it sees 55 volts, 5.5 watts. I am confused as to why the voltage is increasing to 70 volts at the very end of the run of CAT6.

However if I disconnect my NVR from the POE injector, I see the appropriate 48 volts at the end of the run. So it seems as though having the NVR and the POE injector connected together increases the voltage???

I ordered a Ubiquiti GP-V480-032G POE injector just now as well. I believe that this device is active and not passive, so when it arrives I can test it out next week. Obviously it is a much higher quality POE injector and I have actually used it before, to power an access point for my Father.
 

wittaj

IPCT Contributor
Joined
Apr 28, 2019
Messages
24,428
Reaction score
47,550
Location
USA
Only thing I can think of is the meter isn't negotiating the power.

What should happen is the NVR detects the camera has power and then doesn't send power to it and just accepts the data feed. The tester probably isn't designed to negotiate that.
 

BlaineBug

Young grasshopper
Joined
Jun 27, 2022
Messages
56
Reaction score
18
Location
United States
Only thing I can think of is the meter isn't negotiating the power.

What should happen is the NVR detects the camera has power and then doesn't send power to it and just accepts the data feed. The tester probably isn't designed to negotiate that.
I might just wait until I receive my Ubiquiti GP-V480-032G before I test that out. I can return the other cheap passive POE injector with no issues, to be on the safe side!

Apparently what everyone here was saying about there being a power feed issue for the long length of CAT6, you were right! It appears to be somewhat intermittent though! Although I am extremely grateful that it doesn't appear to be any issue with my CAT6 cable though!!!
 

riluxg

Getting the hang of it
Joined
Aug 1, 2015
Messages
63
Reaction score
26
Location
UK
70volts seems hight to me the poe on the nvr should not be active untill it detects a poe device
 
Top